Two Syllable Premier League Players - 2013/2014

Chris Herd - Aston Villa
Grant Holt - Aston Villa
Jed Steer - Aston Villa
Ron Vlaar - Aston Villa

Craig Noone - Cardiff City

Oscar - Chelsea

Dwight Gayle - Crystal Palace

John Stones - Everton

Dan Burn - Fulham
Mesca - Fulham

George Boyd - Hull City
Jack Hobbs - Hull City
Shane Long - Hull City

Brad Jones - Liverpool
Brad Smith - Liverpool

Joe Hart - Manchester City

Phil Jones - Manchester United
Nani - Manchester United

Tim Krul - Newcastle United

Mark Bunn - Norwich City

Jack Cork - Southampton
Luke Shaw - Southampton

Wes Brown - Sunderland

Michu - Swansea City

Sandro - Tottenham Hotspur

Chris Brunt - West Bromwich Albion

Joe Cole - West Ham United

Soccer Twins

Twin brothers that are currently active professional soccer players.

Argentina
Ramiro Funes Mori - River Plate, Argentina
Rogelio Funes Mori - River Plate, Argentina

Australia
Joel Griffiths - Sydney FC, Australia
Adam Griffiths - Selangor FA, Indonesia

Brazil
Rafael - Manchester United, England
Fábio - Manchester United (loan QPR), England

Burkina Faso
Pan Pierre Koulibaly - Montegnée, Belgium
Paul Koulibaly - Al Shorta, Iraq

China
Sun Ji - Hangzhou Greentown, China
Sun Xiang - Guangzhou Evergrande, China

Cyprus
Loukas Stylianou - PAEEK, Cyprus
Demetris Stylianou - Aris Limassol, Cyprus

England
Jaydon Gibbs - Guildford City, England
Kieran Gibbs - Arsenal, England

England U21
Will Keane - Manchester United, England
Michael Keane - Manchester United, England

Estonia
Sander Puri - St. Mirren, Scotland
Eino Puri - JK Nõmme Kalju, Estonia

Finland
Niklas Moisander - Ajax, Netherlands
Henrik Moisander - TPS Turku, Finland

Germany
Lars Bender - Bayer Leverkusen, Germany
Sven Bender - Borussia Dortmund, Germany

Guinea
Alhassane Këïta - Dubai CSC, UAE
Alsény Këïta - US Sénart-Moissy, France

Hungary U21
Ádám Simon - Palermo (loan Haladás), Hungary
Andras Simon - Győri ETO FC (loan Haladás), Hungary

Japan
Hisato Satō - Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Japan
Yūto Satō - JEF United, Japan

Malaysia
Mohd Aidil Zafuan - Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia
Mohd Zaquan Adha - Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

Poland
Piotr Brożek - Lechia Gdańsk, Poland
Paweł Brożek - Recreativo Huelva, Spain

Russia
Vasili Berezutski - CSKA Moscow, Russia
Aleksei Berezutski - CSKA Moscow, Russia

Spain U23
Miguel Flaño - Osasuna, Spain
Javi Flaño - Elche, Spain

Sweden
Marcus Olsson - Blackburn Rovers, England
Martin Olsson - Blackburn Rovers, England

Switzerland U21
Damian Bellón - Panetolikos, Greece
Yagó Bellón - FC Kreuzlingen, Switzerland

Switzerland
Philipp Degen - FC Basel, Switzerland
David Degen - FC Basel, Switzerland

Tahiti
Alvin Tehau - AS Tefana, Tahiti
Lorenzo Tehau - AS Tefana, Tahiti

Turkey
Halil Altıntop - Trabzonspor, Turkey
Hamit Altıntop - Galatasaray, Turkey

USA U17
Gabriel Farfan - Philadelphia Union, USA
Michael Farfan - Philadelphia Union, USA


Criteria: Both currently active and at least one brother has played for their youth or full national team.




Photos from: MLSsoccer.com and forum.ea.com

Alliterative MLS Player Names

Andre Akpan
Anthony Arena

Bradlee Baladez
Brandon Barklage
Bobby Boswell

Calen Carr
Conor Casey
Cordell Cato
Colin Clark
Caleb Clark
Carlo Cudicini

Dilly Duka
Dom Dwyer

Jack Jewsbury
George John
Jason Johnson

Kei Kamara
Kosuke Kimura
Kory Kindle
Chris Korb

Mike Magee

Robbie Russell

Soony Saad
Shea Salinas
Saer Sene
Seth Sinovic
Shawn Sloan

2012 Portland Timbers "Personal" Bios

ERIC ALEXANDER
Was a finance major in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University

JOE BENDIK
Was a NSCAA High School All-American at Edison Academic Center High School in Bradenton, Fla.

Attended the U.S. U-18 National Team camp in Los Angeles and the Elite Soccer Program (ESP) camp in Hartford, Conn., while in high school

Majored in management at Clemson

FREDDIE BRAUN
Enjoyed studying video productions in school

Wrote a blog for the Louisville website during his time on campus

Lists golfing, snowboarding and wakeboarding as some of his hobbies.

ERIC BRUNNER
Attended Dublin Scioto High School

Majored in Communications at Ohio State

Enjoys playing video games

Played for the Ohio Thunder club team from 1998-2003

Played for the Michigan Bucks of the Premier Development League in 2007, making 11 appearances and scoring two goals

MIKE CHABALA
Began playing soccer at the age of four

Traveled on a team trip to Europe as an eight-year-old

If not playing soccer, would be living in New York and working on Wall Street

Lists snowboarding, golf, and politics among his hobbies

Lists Brazilian midfielder Kaká as one of his favorite athletes

Favorite music genres are indie rock and techno

Majored in economics at Washington and graduated in three-and-a-half years

Interned at Pacific Capital as a financial planner in 2005

DIEGO CHARA
With the Timbers, is reunited with countryman Jorge Perlaza, whom he has known since he was 12 and has played with previously

FUTTY DANSO
Has two sets of families, one in the United States and his biological family back in The Gambia

Favorite soccer clubs include Italy’s Juventus and England’s Chelsea

Is also a talented volleyball and tennis player

If wasn’t a professional soccer player, would likely be an engineer, working on fighter planes

BRIGHT DIKE
Is an avid sports fan

Favorite sports teams are Arsenal and Barcelona

Both hip hop and R&B top his list of favorite music genres

Likes to travel and visit new places

Has met President Obama

Loves working with computers, would be in information technology if not for soccer

Enjoys cooking


JAKE GLEESON
A native of New Zealand, also grew up playing cricket, a sport he likes watching

Enjoys playing guitar and listening to music

Is a fan of TV shows “Jersey Shore” and “Flight of the Conchords”

Golfs in his free time

DAVID HORST
Majored in Civil Engineering while attending Old Dominion

JACK JEWSBURY
Favorite international club is Liverpool

Is an avid golfer

Loves to play basketball during the off-season

Scored 59 goals his senior season and 124 for his career, both marks are state records, at Kickapoo
High School in Springfield, Mo.

Traveled three-and-a-half hours every weekend to play youth soccer for Busch S.C. in St. Louis

RYAN KAWULOK
Grandfather, Anthony Kawulok, played professional soccer in Poland prior to World War II and cousins played collegiate football at Colorado State and San Diego State

JAMES MARCELIN
Is an avid video gamer, and particularly enjoys playing PlayStation

Likes a variety of music

Claims favorite movie to be ATL

Favorite things to watch on TV are soccer channels

DARLINGTON NAGBE
Father, Joe, is a former captain of the Liberian National Team

Member of the U.S. U-15 National Team pool in 2004

LOVEL PALMER
Enjoys listening to music, watching movies, and going to the beach

Played cricket as a youngster

Did not begin playing soccer until the age of 10 and did not join a competitive team until he
was 13


TROY PERKINS
Lists carpentry as a hobby

Is a skilled chef, specializing in southern dishes.

STEVE PURDY
Speaks three languages, including Spanish and German

Grew up playing basketball, baseball and soccer

From the Bay Area, lists the San Francisco 49ers as one of his favorite sports teams.

CHARLES RENKEN
Before agreeing to a deal with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, trained with English clubs Arsenal and Reading as well as German side 1860 Munich

SEBASTIAN RINCON
Is the son of recognized Colombian soccer player Freddy Rincón, who played in three World Cups for the Colombian National Team

FRANCK SONGO'O
Father, Jacques, played professionally for nearly 20 years for clubs in France, Spain and Cameroon
and was a member of the Cameroon National Team that competed in the 1984 Olympics and four FIFA World Cups

CHRIS TAYLOR
Graduated with a degree in management with a specialization in entrepreneurship and family business

Lettered in soccer, cross country, track and football at Casady High School in Oklahoma City

Enjoys listening to country music, listing George Strait and Kenny Chesney among his favorite artists

Is an avid outdoorsman, partaking in fishing, hiking, mountain biking and skiing.

JOSE ADOLFO VALENCIA
Nicknamed “El Trencito” (the Little Train), Valencia is the son of popular former Colombian international Adolfo Valencia, who played in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups

Adolfo Valencia, known as “El Tren” (the Train), had a 16-year professional career (1988-2004),
which included stints with Santa Fe, Germany’s Bayern Munich, Spain’s Atlético Madrid and in MLS with the MetroStars from 2000-01.


RODNEY WALLACE
Played with former Timbers midfielder Jeremy Hall at Maryland

Enjoys watching movies

SAL ZIZZO
Lists Manchester United forward Michael Owen as one of his favorite athletes

Was also a four-year letterman in baseball at Patrick Henry High School

Likes all types of music

Enjoys playing video games

In the offseason, opened an Italian foodcart, Zizzo’s FC, in downtown Portland

ZZ Top Players

Current and former players whose First and Last names begin with a "Z"

Zinedine Zidane

Zhi Zheng - Guangzhou Evergrande (China)
Zheng Zou - Qingdao Jonoon (China)
Zuojun Zhao - Nanchang Bayi FC (China)
Zhongting Zou - Nanchang Bayi FC (China)
Zheng Zheng - Shandong Luneng (China)
Zhaohui Zhang - Beijing Guoan (China)
Zhivko Zhelev - Slavia Sofia (Bulgaria)
Zdeněk Zlámal - Sigma Olomouc (Czech Republic)
Zulfadli Zainal Abidin - Singapore Armed Forces FC (Singapore)
Zeynal Zeynalov - FK Standard Sumgayit (Azerbaijan)
Živko Živković - Metalac GM (Serbia)
Zoubir Zmit - CS Constantine (Algeria)
Zahir Zerdab - Rouen (France)
Zaid Al Zaid - Al Riffa (Bahrain)
Zoran Zukić - Proleter Novi Sad (Serbia)
Zlatko Zečević - APOP Kinyras (Cyprus)
Zhanhong Zhou - Shek Kip Mei (Hong Kong)
Zelvin Zepeda - Alacranes del Norte FC (El Salvador)
Zdenek Zahalka - Hlučín (Czech Republic)
Zulham Zamrun - Mitra Kukar FC (Indonesia)
Zaman Zadran - Rosengård (Sweden)
Zaim Zeneli - Melbourne Victory (Australia)
Zaw Oo Zaw - Myanmar DF
Zdravko Zdravkov - Former Bulgaria GK
Zlatko Zahovic - Former Slovenia MF
Zdeněk Zikán - Former Czechoslovakia FW
Zulkarnaen Zainal - Former Singapore DF

Videos: Soccer Similar Sports

A few interesting soccer inspired sports from around the world.

Sepak Takraw


Bossaball

International Rules Football

Chinlone (Mystic Ball)


Soccer Tennis (Djokovic vs. Nadal)


Jorkyball

Unusual Soccer Match Cancellations

This is a list of soccer matches that have been cancelled over the past few years due to unusual circumstances. There have been a wide range of reasons for cancellation including government intervention, war and terrorism, deadly disease outbreaks, wild boars, burning toilet paper, David Beckham issues, and more. For this list, I chose to avoid weather issues, player deaths, hooligans, riots and other similar issues. Feel free to add any memorable match cancellations in the comments.




Israel Matches Cancelled over Gaza offensive (Link)

Wales Matches cancelled in ref 'crisis' (Link)

Serie A matches Suspended for the Ailing Pope (Link)

Indian league Matches Cancelled due to Mumbai Terrorist Attacks (Link)

Match cancelled in Gloucestershire as Wild Boar Invades Football Pitch (Link1)(Link2)

PSV v Ajax postponed due to police strike (Link)

Zimbabwe Police cancel Football (Link)

SARS plays havoc with Asia's soccer schedule (Link)

Greek Cypriots pressure English team to call off Friendly with Turkish Cypriot Side (Link)

Major League Soccer postponed games in wake of September 11 attacks (Link)

Armenia-Azerbaijan matches cancelled due to dispute over match venues (Link)

Nepal League matches cancelled when Sports Council office padlocked by Maoist-affiliated group (Link)

Israeli league matches cancelled after three players admit taking bribes (Link)

Wuhan Guanggu ejected from Chinese soccer league causing the CFA to cancel all remaining fixtures (Link)

UC Irvine v UC Riverside match in California postponed due to poor air quality (Link)

Kidnapping Postpones 2001 Copa America in Colombia (Link)

British Government forces Charlton to cancel game with Iran National Team (Link)

1999: Irish ban match with the Serbs on account of events in Kosovo (Link)

FIFA cancels Fiji-New Zealand WC qualifier over Visa disagreement (Link)

Liverpool-Newcastle game Postponed due to death of Princess Diana (Link)

Man United cancel Malaysian match to avoid detracting from the Asian Cup (Link)

Adelaide-Changchun match cancelled because of Chinese mourning period for Earthquake victims (Link)

FC Groningen fans light toilet paper on fire, causing cancellation of match (Link)

Queensland Roar-LA Galaxy match cancelled due to concerns of David Beckham's availability (Link)

Burmese Military team become bad sports against a University team causing a walk-out (Link)

Ghanaian Premier League match called off due to the June Four fun games (Link)

Iran cancels Woman's football match in Berlin due to "technical problems" (Link)



Originally Posted on 11/9/09

Europe: FIFA Member Codes

These are the official three letter codes used by FIFA and UEFA as abbreviations for European countries in official competitions.

UEFA FIFA member codes

ALB - Albania
AND - Andorra
ARM - Armenia
AUT - Austria
AZE - Azerbaijan
BLR - Belarus
BEL - Belgium
BIH - Bosnia and Herzegovina
BUL - Bulgaria
CRO - Croatia
CYP - Cyprus
CZE - Czech Republic
DEN - Denmark
ENG - England
EST - Estonia
FRO - Faroe Islands
FIN - Finland
FRA - France
GEO - Georgia
GER - Germany
GRE - Greece
HUN - Hungary
ISL - Iceland
ISR - Israel
ITA - Italy
KAZ - Kazakhstan
LVA - Latvia
LIE - Liechtenstein
LTU - Lithuania
LUX - Luxembourg
MKD - Macedonia
MLT - Malta
MDA - Moldova
MNE - Montenegro
NED - Netherlands
NIR - Northern Ireland
NOR - Norway
POL - Poland
POR - Portugal
IRL - Republic of Ireland
ROU - Romania
RUS - Russia
SMR - San Marino
SCO - Scotland
SRB - Serbia
SVK - Slovakia
SVN - Slovenia
ESP - Spain
SWE - Sweden
SUI - Switzerland
TUR - Turkey
UKR - Ukraine
WAL - Wales

Obsolete European Country Codes

TCH - Czechoslovakia
DDR - East Germany
SCG - Serbia and Montenegro
URS - Soviet Union
FRG - West Germany
YUG - Yugoslavia

10/11 Premier League Unique Internationals

The players that are the only one of their nationality playing in the English Premiership in the 2010/2011 season.


Austria
Paul Scharner - West Bromwich Albion

Barbados
Emmerson Boyce - Wigan Athletic

Belarus
Alexander Hleb - Birmingham City

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Asmir Begović - Stoke City

Canada
David Hoilett - Blackburn Rovers

Congo
Christopher Samba - Blackburn Rovers

Ecuador
Antonio Valencia - Manchester United

Egypt
Ahmed El Mohamady - Sunderland

Faroe Islands
Gunnar Nielsen - Manchester City (Loaned out to Tranmere Rovers)

Finland
Jussi Jääskeläinen - Bolton Wanderers

Greece
Sotirios Kyrgiakos - Liverpool

Grenada
Jason Roberts - Blackburn Rovers

Mali
Mamady Sidibe - Stoke City

Morocco
Marouane Chamakh - Arsenal

Oman
Ali Al-Habsi - Bolton Wanderers (Loaned out to Wigan Athletic)

Romania
Gabriel Tamaş - West Bromwich Albion

Slovenia
Haris Vučkić - Newcastle United

Turkey
Tuncay Şanlı - Stoke City

Zimbabwe
Benjani Mwaruwari - Blackburn Rovers

Goals of the World

Translations of the English word 'Goal' in many other languages from around the world.


Afrikaans - Doel
Arabic - الهدف
Basque - gola!
Bulgarian - гол
Chinese - 球门,得分
Croatian - gol
Czech - gól
Danish - mål
Dutch - Goal, Doelpunt
English - Goal
Estonian - värav
Finnish - maali
French - but
German - Tor
Greek - τέρμα, γκολ
Hebrew - שַׁעַ
Hindi - गोल
Hungarian - gól
Icelandic - mark, stig
Indonesian - gol
Italian - goal, gol, rete
Japanese - ゴール
Korean - (경기의) 득점, 골
Latvian - vārti
Lithuanian - įvartis
Malay - gol
Norwegian - mål
Polish - gol
Portuguese - golo
Romanian - gol
Russian - гол
Serbian - gol
Slovak - gól
Slovenian - gol
Spanish - ¡gol!
Swedish - mål
Thai - ประตู
Turkish - gol
Ukrainian - гол
Vietnamese - bàn thắng; điểm





Translations from: The Free Dictionary

Random Video Day

A few completely random soccer related videos that I've watched recently and found entertaining. I especially like the Japanese Adidas commercial, very cool.

Nuns at Chelsea FC


Alexandre Pato - Internacional Cartoon


Hanging out with USA National Team Player Steve Cherundolo in Germany


Japanese Adidas Commercial


This guy better hope he never gets caught doing this prank

Video Game Soccer Shirt Sponsors

A list of video game sponsored soccer shirts.

2009 Seattle Sounders "XBOX 360" Shirt




Paris Saint Germain "Commodore" Shirt




1999 Home Manchester City "Eidos" Shirt




Kyoto Sanga "Nintendo" Japanese Shirt




2000-01 Away Saint Etienne Dreamcast Shirt




1991 Chelsea Home "Commodore" Shirt





2005-06 Auxerre "Playstation" Shirt




1999 Arsenal Away "Sega" Shirt




2000 Arsenal Home "Dreamcast" Shirt




Fiorentina "Nintendo" Shirt




1988 Home Bayern Munich "Commodore" Shirt





Tokyo Verdy "Konami" Shirt

1994 JEF United "Sega/Sonic the Hedgehog" Shirt

1999 Sampdoria "Dreamcast" Shirt

09/10 Swindon Town "FIFA 10" Shirt

2000 Deportivo La Coruña "Dreamcast" Shirt

2008 Lazio "PES 2009" Shirt

Feel free to inform me of any video game shirts I may have missed.

Pictures from:
Classic Football Shirts UK
Flickr J.League500 (Sunnie) (Great pictures of J-League Shirts)
Fiorentina Shirt
Auxerre Shirt
Deportivo La Coruna


Originally posted: 10/1/08
UPDATED: 1/8/10
UPDATED: 9/1/10

For those that didn't have or aren't old enough to remember Commodore, here is a list of games for the C64.

The Lions of England

Clubs in England that have a lion for a mascot.

Dazzle - Rushden and Diamonds (2001)

Yorkie - York City FC

Lenny - Shrewsbury Town

Kingsley Royal - Reading FC

Zampa - Millwall FC

Roary - Middlesbrough FC

Grecian - Exeter City

Stamford - Chelsea FC

Lofty - Bolton Wanderers

Roar and Roarina - Blackburn Rovers

Pictures From:
[Shrewsbury Town.com] [Junior Whites] [ExMouthGrecian] [Flickr/CN174] [Chelsea FC Forums] [Millwall/Vital Football] [Sports.ru]

If there was an Arabian Peninsula National Team...

This post is kind of random, but every once in a while I wonder what kind of National Teams could be put together if you combined nations with similar cultures and geographic locations. I've done a combined USSR and a combined Yugoslavia in the past.

This is my attempt at putting together an Arabian Peninsula National Team. I'm not an expert on the region, so feel free to help me out if I missed any deserving players. I think this team would be a strong contender for one of the Asian World Cup Finals spots along with Japan, Australia, and South Korea.



Arabian Peninsula Includes:
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen

STARTING LINEUP

GK - Ali Al-Habsi (Oman; Bolton Wanderers, England)

LB - Salman Isa (Bahrain; Al-Arabi, Bahrain)

CB - Osama Hawsawi (Saudi Arabia; Al-Hilal, Saudi Arabia)

CB - Redha Tukar (Saudi Arabia; Al-Ittihad, Saudi Arabia)

RB - Hamad Al-Montashari (Saudi Arabia; Al-Ittihad, Saudi Arabia)

LM - Talal Al-Bloushi (Qatar; Al Sadd, Qatar)

CM - Mohammed Noor (Saudi Arabia; Al-Ittihad, Saudi Arabia)

CM - Fábio César (Qatar; Al-Rayyan, Qatar)

RM - Ahmed Hadid Al Mukhaini (Oman; Al-Ittihad, Saudi Arabia)

ST - Yasser Al-Qahtani (Saudi Arabia; Al-Hilal, Saudi Arabia)

ST - Sebastián Soria (Qatar; Qatar SC, Qatar)


BENCH

GK - Sayed Jaffer (Bahrain; Muharraq, Bahrain)

DF - Meshal Mubarak (Qatar; Al-Rayyan, Qatar)
DF - Majed Al Marshadi (Saudi Arabia; Al-Hilal, Saudi Arabia)

MF - Mohamed Salmeen (Bahrain; Dhafra, UAE)
MF - Mahmood Abdulrahaman (Bahrain; Al-Shamal SC, Qatar)

ST - Ismail Matar Al-Junaibi (UAE; Al-Wahda, UAE)
ST - Jaycee John Okwunwanne (Bahrain; Eskişehirspor, Turkey)

World Cup Nation Quick Facts

Population in Millions

309.0 - USA
190.0 - Brazil
154.7 - Nigeria
127.3 - Japan
103.0 - Mexico
82.1 - Germany
65.1 - France
60.2 - Italy
49.1 - England
48.4 - South Korea
46.7 - Spain
44.8 - South Africa
36.3 - Argentina
29.1 - Algeria
23.9 - North Korea
23.8 - Ghana
19.9 - Australia
16.6 - Netherlands
15.7 - Cameroon
15.4 - Cote d'Ivoire
15.1 - Chile
11.0 - Greece
10.4 - Portugal
7.6 - Switzerland
7.3 - Serbia
7.0 - Honduras
6.3 - Paraguay
5.5 - Denmark
5.4 - Slovakia
4.0 - New Zealand
3.4 - Uruguay
2.0 - Slovenia


Primary Language

Arabic
Algeria

Danish
Denmark

Dutch
Netherlands

English
Australia
Cameroon
England
Ghana
New Zealand
Nigeria
USA

French
Cameroon
Cote d'Ivoire
France

German
Germany
Switzerland

Greek
Greece

Italian
Italy

Japanese
Japan

Korean
North Korea
South Korea

Portuguese
Brazil
Portugal

Serbian
Serbia

Slovak
Slovakia

Slovene
Slovenia

Spanish
Argentina
Chile
Honduras
Mexico
Paraguay
Spain
Uruguay

Zulu
South Africa


Area in Square Miles

3,794,101 - USA
3,287,597 - Brazil
2,941,299 - Australia
1,068,302 - Argentina
919,595 - Algeria
762,000 - Mexico
471,443 - South Africa
356,667 - Nigeria
292,183 - Chile
260,558 - France
195,364 - Spain
183,568 - Cameroon
157,048 - Paraguay
145,883 - Japan
137,847 - Germany
124,502 - Cote d'Ivoire
116,346 - Italy
103,738 - New Zealand
92,098 - Ghana
68,037 - Uruguay
50,944 - Greece
50,346 - England
46,528 - North Korea
43,278 - Honduras
41,526 - Netherlands
38,622 - South Korea
35.645 - Portugal
34,116 - Serbia
18,932 - Slovakia
16,640 - Denmark
15,940 - Switzerland
7,827 - Slovenia


GDP (overall economic output) rank of World Cup 2010 nations

1. USA
2. Japan
3. Germany
4. France
5. UK (England)
6. Italy
7. Brazil
8. Spain
9. Mexico
10. Australia
11. South Korea
12. Netherlands
13. Switzerland
14. Greece
15. Denmark
16. Argentina
17. South Africa
18. Portugal
19. Nigeria
20. Chile
21. Algeria
22. New Zealand
23. Slovakia
24. Slovenia
25. Serbia
26. Uruguay
27. North Korea
28. Cote d'Ivoire
29. Cameroon
30. Ghana
31. Honduras
32. Paraguay

FIFA Rankings by Language Spoken

The current FIFA world rankings categorized by a few of the most widely spoken world languages.

ARABIC (official or co-official language)
12 - Egypt
26 - Israel
30 - Algeria
55 - Tunisia
66 - Saudi Arabia
69 - Bahrain
70 - Morocco
80 - Iraq
91 - Oman
96 - Qatar
97 - Kuwait
98 - Syria
101 - UAE
102 - Libya
104 - Jordan
112 - Yemen
118 - Sudan
143 - Chad
155 - Eritrea
160 - Lebanon
164 - Mauritania
171 - Comoros
173 - Palestine
173 - Somalia
188 - Djibouti

DUTCH (official or co-official language)
4 - Netherlands
59 - Belgium
137 - Suriname
154 - Netherlands Antilles
198 - Aruba

ENGLISH (Countries where a minimum of 1 million people speak English as their first language)
8 - England
14 - USA
20 - Australia
21 - Nigeria
41 - Republic of Ireland
43 - Scotland
56 - Northern Ireland
63 - Canada
77 - Wales
78 - New Zealand
81 - Jamaica
83 - South Africa
95 - Trinidad and Tobago
169 - Philippines

FRENCH (official or co-official language, minimum 400,000 speakers)
9 - France
19 - Cameroon
24 - Switzerland
27 - Cote d'Ivoire
42 - Gabon
48 - Burkina Faso
54 - Mali
59 - Belgium
60 - Benin
63 - Canada
75 - Senegal
76 - Togo
87 - Guinea
91 - Haiti
107 - Rwanda
121 - Congo DR
127 - Luxembourg
143 - Chad
148 - Madagascar
162 - Niger
202 - Central African Republic

GERMAN (official or co-official language)
6 - Germany
24 - Switzerland
59 - Belgium
68 - Austria
111 - Namibia
127 - Luxembourg
149 - Liechtenstein

PORTUGUESE (official or co-official language)
1 - Brazil
3 - Portugal
85 - Mozambique
88 - Angola
114 - Cape Verde
141 - Equatorial Guinea
191 - Guinea-Bissau
197 - Macau
200 - Timor-Leste

SPANISH (official or co-official language)
2 - Spain
7 - Argentina
16 - Uruguay
17 - Mexico
18 - Chile
31 - Paraguay
35 - Colombia
38 - Honduras
40 - Costa Rica
44 - Ecuador
49 - Venezuela
53 - Peru
65 - Bolivia
72 - El Salvador
74 - Panama
114 - Guatemala
126 - Cuba
141 - Equatorial Guinea
155 - Nicaragua
166 - Puerto Rico
187 - Dominican Republic

Look-Alikes: TV's "Lost" with MLS and WPS Players

Note: This was originally posted on 4/24/09.

It's been a while since the last Look-Alike Post so I thought I'd get back to it with the TV show Lost as the theme this time around. I used past and present players from Major League Soccer and also from the Women's Professional Soccer league for the female characters.





Dwayne De Rosario (TOR) as Sayid




Brad Davis (HOU) as Benjamin Linus



Nico Hernandez (ex-COL) as Sawyer



Hong Myung-Bo (ex-LAG) as Jin



Kyle Martino (ex-CLB and LAG) as Jack Shephard



Lisa Stoia (St.L) as Kate Austen



Matt Reis (NE) as John Locke



Clyde Simms (DC) as Michael Dawson



Sigi Schmid (SEA Head Coach) as Others "Tom"



Duncan Oughton (CLB) as Desmond




Natalie Spilger (CHI) as Charlotte



Jack Jewsbury (KC) as Martin Keamy



Johanna Frisk (LA) as Claire




Stefani Miglioranzi (PHI) as 'Young' Charles Widmore




Matt Reis (NE) as Hurley's Imaginary Friend 'Dave'
Thanks to commenter





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Bonus: Hurley - Diego Maradona



If you have MLS/WPS look-alike ideas for any of the other Lost characters that I couldn't find a suitable body double for (Mr. Eko, Faraday, Juliet, Boone, Charlie, Richard Alpert, etc...), let me know and I'll add them into the post.

Lost Soccer Notes:

The real name of the actor that plays Christian Shephard (Jack's Father) on the show is John Terry.

Rodrigo Santoro, who played Paolo on the show, participated in the UK's Soccer Aid which raised money for Unicef. He played alongside legends such as Alan Shearer and Luis Figo at Wembley Stadium.

"We dated for 6 years and the closest you ever came to a religious experience was Celtic winning the cup." said by Ruth to Desmond Hume


Young Mr Eko with a soccer ball

Pictures: Face Painted Footy Fans

Austria




Cameroon




Colombia




Costa Rica




Netherlands




England (taking it to the next level...)




Ghana




Japan




South Korea




Switzerland




Tunisia




Turkey




Vietnam




Pictures from:
[smh] [cescy] [uefa-cup-bets] [virginmedia] [guardian] [viennadaily.blogspot] [bbc] [nypost] [blogs.reuters] [blogs.wsj] [telegraph]